Listed food giant Kerry Group has issued a clutch of new share options to its top executives as part of the company’s bonus scheme.
Chief executive Edmond Scanlon was awarded 8,650 shares, which would be worth €709,300 on the open market at Kerry’s share price of about €82. Chief financial officer Marguerite Larkin was given 4,722 options, and Gerry Behan, head of the company’s taste and nutrition division, got 5,694.
At Kerry’s share price, Ms Larkin’s options, when vested, would be worth €387,204, while Mr Behan’s would be worth €466,908. Details of the options were released in stock market filings this week.
Kerry’s shares have been on a steady slide over the past three years, having hit a high of €130 in July 2021.
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Under Kerry’s short-term incentive plan, executives are rewarded if they meet certain goals related to the company’s performance in a given year, while the long-term incentive plan is linked to growth in the company’s earnings-per-share ratio, its return on capital employed, and other metrics.
Mr Scanlon had basic pay in 2022 of €1.2 million, which with share incentive awards of about €2.3 million – as well as pension and benefits – gave him a total remuneration of just under €3.9 million.
Ms Larkin had a basic salary of €797,000, which rose to a total package of €2.2 million, of which around €1.2 million was in the form of share bonuses.
Mr Behan had a total package of €2.8 million, of which $1.6 million was share-based, with the share element denominated in dollars since he is based in the United States.
In February the company reported revenue of €8 billion for 2023, which was down from €8.7 billion in 2022. Its ebidta (earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation) was also down from €1.2 billion in 2022 to €1.16 billion last year.
Soon after the results, the company announced it would pay a final dividend of 80.8 cent per share, which would bring its total for 2023 to 115.4 cent, a rise of more than 10 per cent on the previous year.
The company also intends to conduct another share buyback process this year, the details of which will be announced after it has completed the current scheme of €300 million, which is expected to finish in April.
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